Raspberry Pi Magic Mirror Project Gallery

At Cut Plastic Sheeting we love to see our materials being used in clever and creative ways.

One of our favourite uses for two-way mirror is to create a magic mirror powered by the tiny and affordable Raspberry Pi computer.

Most people only know about two-way mirrors from the interrogation rooms in crime dramas. They are of course great for surveillance, but artists and tech craftsman have also come up with incredibly clever ways to use these unique, reflective acrylic sheets. Whether you need to use it to observe or impress, here’s some of the inspired ways others have used our two-way acrylic mirror to create magic mirrors.

Nice clean, wooden framed design.

First, what is a magic mirror?

A magic mirror is a very general term given to a mirror which is fitted with a computer ( usually a Raspberry Pi) and a screen of some sort, so that it can display information such as weather forecasts, upcoming calendar appointments, news updates and even just the time and date.

You can't see the edge of the screen, which is hidden behind the mirror, so only the bright white text shows through. Giving a super cool sci-fi-esque appearance.

The secret to the magic behind magic mirrors is that the mirror part is not normal mirror, but instead two-way mirror. More about that below...

We like the clean, frame-less design of this magic mirror.

What is two way mirror?

Two way mirror is also known as double-sided mirror (and confusingly - one way mirror) is named as such because it is only fully reflective on one side. The other side lets in half the light that hits it, and reflects the other half - thus allowing one side to be seen through, but not the other.

The reason those police surveillance rooms are always so dark is the dim setting allows very little light to be reflected back, allowing you to see everything on the other side whilst remaining completely covered. Banks, supermarkets and education/health assessment rooms all use them, and recording equipment can be set up to capture everything that comes through.

We love this magic mirror with a chunky rustic wooden frame. A great mix of old meets new.

How to make a magic mirror

As you would expect, there are lots of guides on the internet for making a Raspberry Pi magic mirror, here's a few which we found most useful: